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GAME #24
Cleveland State (12-11, 4-6) at Green Bay (19-2, 9-0)
Date: Thursday, Feb. 14, 2013
Time: 8:00 p.m. EST
Site: Kress Events Center - Green Bay, Wis.
Last Meeting: Green Bay 52, CSU 49 (@CSU, 1/17/13)
SETTING THE SCENE
The Vikings will close out their busiest stretch of the season this weekend, traveling to Wisconsin for a pair of contests. Cleveland State will open the weekend with an 8:00 p.m. EST contest at Green Bay on Thursday, Feb. 14. Entering the week CSU stands at 12-11 overall and 4-6 in Horizon League play, after defeating UIC, 75-69 last time out. Thursday's contest will begin a three-game roadswing for the Vikings, as they are set to face the Phoneix, Milwaukee and Youngstown State during that stretch.
LAST TIME OUT
The Vikings overcame a 13-point first half deficit to come-from-behind and complete the season sweep of UIC with a 75-69 victory over the Flames Monday evening. The win put CSU over .500 for the season once again, and moved the Vikings into fifth place in the league standings.
A WIN THURSDAY WOULD...
Put the Vikings on a win streak for the third time this season...Mark the first victory over Green Bay since the 2009-10 season...Give Green Bay its first league loss of the year...Be the third win for CSU out of its last four contests.
SCOUTING THE PHOENIX
Green Bay enters Thursday's contest on a 14-game win streak, including a 9-0 run in Horizon League play...The Phoenix stand at 19-2 this season, last falling to Central Michigan (54-50) on December 5...Green Bay leads the league with a +17.8 scoring margin this season, while the Phoenix rank second in field goal percentage (.445)...Green Bay also averages a league-best 17.2 assists per game, while boasting a +6.0 turnover margin...Green Bay is the only team to have two players ranked in the top-five in assists in the league - Megan Lukan (4th-4.1) and Adrian Ritchie (5th-4.0)...Ritchie also ranks seventh in scoring (14.2 ppg), second in steals (2.8 spg) and first in assist/turnover ratio (2.5).
MONDAY MARKED 300th GAME FOR PETERSON ABIAD
Monday's contest against UIC marked the 300th game for head coach Kate Peterson Abiad during her tenure at Cleveland State, as she picked up her 130th career victory. Peterson Abiad, who has led the Vikings for the last 10 seasons, became the all-time winningest coach at Cleveland State last year and has guided the Vikings to 19 wins or more during four seasons, including 21 during 2010-11.
WINTON NOTCHES 1,000th CAREER REBOUND
Shalonda Winton became just the second player in program history to record 1,000 rebounds on their career Monday, finishing the contest with 1,004 after grabbing nine boards in the win over UIC. Winton, who became the all-time leader in offensive rebounds at CSU earlier this season, has led the Vikings in rebounding during 20 games this season, including a season-high 17 boards at Nevada (Nov. 23).
...ALSO SECOND VIKING WITH 1,700 POINTS & 1,000 REBOUNDS
Shalonda Winton also became the second player in program history to notch 1,700 points and 1,000 rebounds on their career, ending Monday's contest with 1,702 points and 1,004 rebounds. Winton joins Audra Cook (1,805 pts & 1,030 rbs) as the only Vikings to reach the milestone and joins Youngstown State's Brandi Brown (2009-prs.) and Milwaukee's Traci Edwards (2006-09) as the only league players to achieve the mark.
VIKINGS WITH THE BLOCK
Cleveland State posted a season-high nine blocks against UIC Monday, including a career-high five from Shalonda Winton. The nine blocks is also the best mark of the season in Horizon League contests only, while the Vikings now rank fifth averaging 2.8 blocks in league games only.
GREEN HAS SOLID OUTING VS. UIC
Kiersten Green had an excellent performance against the Flames last time out, posting 13 points, five rebounds, five assists and two steals. Monday was the third time this season that Green has recorded at least 10 points, five rebounds, five assists and two steals in the same game (Santa Clara-Nov. 23 & UIC-Jan. 9). Green now has a team-high 54 steals on the season, and ranks third in the league averaging 2.3 per contest.
WINTON TIES CAREER-HIGH WITH 32 AGAINST UIC
For the third time this season Shalonda Winton reached the 30-point mark, posting a career-high tying 32 points against UIC last time out. Winton's 32 points marked a game-high and included a career-high five three-pointers. Winton was 11-for-16 from the field (.687) against the Flames and eclipsed the 1,700-point mark for her career, ending with 1,702.
...WINTON REMAINS ON TOP OF LEAGUE STANDINGS
Following Monday's 32-point performance, Shalonda Winton remains at the top of the league scoring standings, averaging 22.7 points per game. Entering Thursday's contest, Winton has 521 points on the season, marking the second time that she has notched at least 500 points in a season - also doing so last year (566 points).
UP NEXT
The Vikings will stay in Wisconsin and face Milwaukee on Saturday (Feb. 16), taking on the Panthers at 3:00 p.m. EST.